Her father died when she was just five or six, leaving Ayi to help her mother with farm chores, mainly raising ducks and chickens.
[1] In September 2008, she performed at the London Week of Peace concert in Trafalgar Square, singing an R&B song entitled "Winner".
[6] In September 2010, the BBC released an article describing Ayi Jihu's rise to stardom, dubbing her the "Chinese Madonna" and claiming that she had been awarded a gold disc to commemorate 100 million downloads of her album by fans in China.
[3] However, a Xinhua News Agency report expressed suspicion of her claims, noting that she did not specify what organisation awarded her the alleged golden disc, and furthermore that the website of her label Shlepp Records did not list any singers under their management besides Ayi Jihu herself.
In January 2014, Ayi Jihu embarked on a new series of performances around the world and commenced recording of new songs in London's Battery Studios.